Back from Durham
Last night, I returned to Havelock rather late and altogether wiped out.
Any time spent with my daughters is always time well spent. Granted, it is also stressful and expensive---both monetarily and emotionally---but there were plenty of bright spots, as well. On the other hand, there were a few tense moments of conflict, yet this, too, is what it means to be a parent in the truest sense of the word.
Overall, hanging out with them in Durham was wonderful and I am terribly glad to have gone to visit when I did. Autumn will be a hectic season for all of us. Sadly, I doubt I'll see either of them again before the winter holiday season kicks in. Considering the fact that Amanda turns 21 in early November, this is particularly painful to acknowledge.
Now for the unpleasant part...
Before I left, my mom started the usual whining that I always hear whenever she feels neglected regardless of whether that feeling is legitimate or not. Research into the behavior of increasingly needy senior citizens has taught me that this is normal, but it's still aggravating as hell. Especially frustrating is the fact that she almost always "gets sick" when I'm headed out of town.
I won't waste everyone's time with a long-winded discourse on all of this in a public post. Suffice it to say that she wasn't "ill" in the literal sense of the word and that I made sure to stay in touch via phone to insure her overall wellbeing. The dinner that I cooked for her tonight was gobbled up without complaint, so I feel confident that she's doing well despite my relatively brief absence.
On the fanfiction front, I haven't the foggiest notion how the two newest chapters of the Realizations Arc went over. {exhausted shrug}
All day today was spent getting caught up on various things and I never even checked email or MM.org. Hopefully someone out there enjoyed the newest Weiss angst all the same. Oh, and the much anticipated appearance of Schwarz, too. I'll try to set aside some time to catch up on that tomorrow. But there's a lot of other things to do, too, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Right now, however, I am quite tired and will meander around LJ-Land for only a few minutes before going to bed.
One thing's for damned sure: After sleeping on an ancient sleeper sofa for three nights, I really appreciate my own bed and am looking forward to more quality time with it very, very soon.
Any time spent with my daughters is always time well spent. Granted, it is also stressful and expensive---both monetarily and emotionally---but there were plenty of bright spots, as well. On the other hand, there were a few tense moments of conflict, yet this, too, is what it means to be a parent in the truest sense of the word.
Overall, hanging out with them in Durham was wonderful and I am terribly glad to have gone to visit when I did. Autumn will be a hectic season for all of us. Sadly, I doubt I'll see either of them again before the winter holiday season kicks in. Considering the fact that Amanda turns 21 in early November, this is particularly painful to acknowledge.
Now for the unpleasant part...
Before I left, my mom started the usual whining that I always hear whenever she feels neglected regardless of whether that feeling is legitimate or not. Research into the behavior of increasingly needy senior citizens has taught me that this is normal, but it's still aggravating as hell. Especially frustrating is the fact that she almost always "gets sick" when I'm headed out of town.
I won't waste everyone's time with a long-winded discourse on all of this in a public post. Suffice it to say that she wasn't "ill" in the literal sense of the word and that I made sure to stay in touch via phone to insure her overall wellbeing. The dinner that I cooked for her tonight was gobbled up without complaint, so I feel confident that she's doing well despite my relatively brief absence.
On the fanfiction front, I haven't the foggiest notion how the two newest chapters of the Realizations Arc went over. {exhausted shrug}
All day today was spent getting caught up on various things and I never even checked email or MM.org. Hopefully someone out there enjoyed the newest Weiss angst all the same. Oh, and the much anticipated appearance of Schwarz, too. I'll try to set aside some time to catch up on that tomorrow. But there's a lot of other things to do, too, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Right now, however, I am quite tired and will meander around LJ-Land for only a few minutes before going to bed.
One thing's for damned sure: After sleeping on an ancient sleeper sofa for three nights, I really appreciate my own bed and am looking forward to more quality time with it very, very soon.